Another one of those things no one told me about in Texas . . the cicadas that make noise non-stop during the night. It’s seasonal and has just started. About a week ago, we began hearing them at dusk but they would stop not long after complete darkness occurred. The last couple of days, they’ve been going all night! We don’t notice them so much in the house but outside, they’re so loud I almost stopped my watering last night and went in and got ear plugs but then I figured I needed to be listening for snakes or mountain lions or whatever other critter might want to sneak up on me.
I had my camera in my pocket last night and decided to record the noise. I was just finishing up my watering, doing the final check on the chickens and was headed to turn off the faucet.
Rebecca says
Wow!! Good to have your voice in there for comparison.
Liz says
Ah…the sounds of summer. I noticed them a few nights ago and they can be quite loud.
Kathy E. says
And they make such an irritating noise… right up there with fingernails on a chalkboard! The teacher in me had to look this up. According to Wikipedia, the noice may be as loud as 120 dB, which is one of the loudest insects. They have a life cycle of 17 years from egg to adult, and some years there are huge hatches… perhaps you won’t be bothered with them for another 17 years? But don’t count on it. I have not noticed them so much where we live now, but when we lived in Arkansas they were TERRIBLE.
KAT in Tamale Land
Kathy E. says
And they make such an irritating noise… right up there with fingernails on a chalkboard! The teacher in me had to look this up. According to Wikipedia, the noise may be as loud as 120 dB, which is one of the loudest insects. They have a life cycle of 17 years from egg to adult, and some years there are huge hatches… perhaps you won’t be bothered with them for another 17 years? But don’t count on it. I have not noticed them so much where we live now, but when we lived in Arkansas they were TERRIBLE.
KAT in Tamale Land
Donna K. from N. TX says
That’s when you know that it is truly summer in Texas. We call them “hot bugs” when they start singing.
Lee says
It seemed there was a bit of a rhythm going on with them. I’m sure some would say it’s like ‘white noise’ that can be tuned out……they told me that about living next to a freeway too…..do not believe them! How long will it go on? days? weeks? months?
Linda in NE says
Whoa!! Those things are noisy. I wouldn’t want to be trying to sleep in a tent out camping somewhere. We’ve been hearing crickets sing since the last part of April. That’s pretty unusual since we usually hear them later in the summer…July or August, maybe. At least they aren’t that loud and I kind of like to hear them.
Shirley S says
The cicadas aren’t as bad here in Grapeland, TX. When I was a kid in Willis, TX, my grandfather taught us if we slapped the tree trunk, all the cicadas in that tree would stop screeching. Unfortunately, they start again in a few seconds but it was quite entertaining for a bunch of little kids to run around slapping tree trunks each evening.
Debbie R. says
My husband was hard of hearing… several years ago he had surgery and was able to hear much better … the first summer when he started hearing those it nearly drove him bonkers… the sound of his own feet walking got on his nerves also… there were lots of noise surprises for him for quite a while.
Joyce Anderson says
Interesting when one is hanging on a screen on the porch and you can watch and listen both. Not very pleasant.
Quiltinggranna says
There is an old wives’ tale around Texas that the cicadas “sing” when the temp is above a certain degree. I don’t remember what it was, but it was always hot and they were always singing. Annoying singing.
Quilter Kathy says
Oh my goodness…that is LOUD! Hope you can still sleep!
Diane in CA says
Holy cow… after a few minutes of that I would welcome a mountain lion to put me out of my misery! Isn’t there some creature that eats cicadas?
( oh for the good old days of DDT.)
shirley bruner says
we had those here, too. i hate them. by the time you get used to the noise and don’t really notice it….they are gone. good riddance i say. i think they must have been one of the plagues in the Bible. LOL
amy says
LOL, I love that sound! We have them here in PA but not as crazy loud as back home in OK. And previous poster said plagues, that’s locusts, a different critter if I remember right (though I could certainly be wrong, long day, but we called locusts “June bugs”). I’m about ready to spend a night or two outside in the tent just to really hear the wildlife, I love the summer sounds 🙂
Carol Victory says
One more reason why I don’t miss living in Texas! I thought they would never stop and we lived in the city.
Linda Steller says
Wow! And I thought the beep of the stitch regulator on my machine drove me nuts! ;P I wouldn’t last long with that. I’d have to get the earplugs out. LOL
Mel Meister says
I’m from Erie, Pa and grew up listening to them and seeing their shell casings on the trees. I don’t remember what we called them.
Annie says
Ah ha, no cicadas in Maine. Mosquitoes and blackflies aplenty, they bite but at least you can go inside and get away from them.
Gail says
Are you kiddin me? OMG….you are NOT alone!!!
We just listen to falling rain here in the Pacific Northwest.
I can’t believe how LOUD they are!! What do they look like?
carol c says
That noise is in my head constantly, I got hearing aides just to override that noise and helps me to be calmer as well. Just think-they stop, mine doesnt. One of the things no one thought to tell you about them, they are so common most just block them on their own-lol
Brandy M. says
Oh my – I would think you’d get used to it, but that’s sure LOUD! So, what do the cicadas do? Do they have a good purpose for the garden or anything? I’ll have to google that! 🙂